The late afternoon sun filters through a grove of redwood trees at the Muir Woods National Monument in Marin County, Calif., Tuesday March 25, 2008. Muir Woods, just a dozen miles north of San Francisco, gets a million visitors a year and the sounds of Mandarin, French, Spanish or a score of other languages are often heard in the park at any time. Mostly they seem to be saying the same thing: These trees are big. (AP Photo/Eric Risberg)

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(MILL VALLEY)- The National Park Service today announced that parking and shuttle reservations at Muir Woods National Monument will begin on January 16, 2018.

All vehicles and shuttle passengers arriving to Muir Woods will be subject to the reservation system. Visitors arriving by commercial carrier – or on foot or bicycle – will not be required to use the reservation system or pay fees associated with it.

“Making a parking and shuttle reservation will be fast and easy,” said Deputy Superintendent Carey Feierabend. “The new system will improve the overall visitor experience by allowing visitors to plan their trip in advance while enhancing the protection and preservation of the surrounding natural resources.” The system, managed by Ace Parking Management, Inc., will operate year-round and reservations will be made through a website and call center.

The system will launch January 1, at which point parking and shuttle reservations can be made up to 90 days in advance on a rolling basis. Visitors will have the option to reserve either a vehicle parking space for $8 per car or a seat on the shuttle for $3 per adult (16 years and older). A vehicle or shuttle reservation provides the visitor with a timed arrival with no restriction on the length of stay for the remainder of the day. Visitors age 16 or older are required to pay a $10 park admission entrance fee in addition to any parking or shuttle reservation fees.

The reservation system will proactively manage parking and visitor flow to protect the health of Muir Woods and the Redwood Creek watershed and effectively address overcrowding, traffic congestion, and parking issues. Under the new reservation system, annual visitation is expected to be reduced to under one million from an estimated 1.2 million visitors.

Commercial carriers will be required to make advance reservations through a separate system managed through recreation.gov. Reservations for commercial parking spaces are anticipated to begin in late spring 2018.